Effects of Concussion and Repetitive Head Impacts Including Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy

A recent youth soccer safety campaign urging middle schools and under-14 soccer leagues to eliminate heading in the sport has sparked renewed interest in the controversial issue, but is also being criticized for advancing a slanted view of the science.

Concussions result in microscopic white matter and inflammatory changes to the brain, say three new studies published in the Journal of Neurosurgery. The studies add to a growing body of research suggesting that concussion can no longer be thought of as a transient injury resulting in a temporary disruption of brain function, but results in structural and electrophysiological changes which persist long after the injury occurs.

Using susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI), researchers have identified microstructural changes in the brains of male and female college-level ice hockey players that could be due to concussive or subconcussive trauma.

Sport-related concussion sustained in early life can have long-term implications for brain health and cognitive and sensory function, find two new studies. The findings add to a growing body of research on long-term deficits stemming from sport-related concussion, and suggest that concussive injuries can disrupt fundamental elements of higher-order neurocognition by chronically impairing attention, working memory, inhibition, and interference control, as well as lower-level sensory and perceptual processing.

A history of concussion is associated with more than a 3-fold increased risk of a current diagnosis of depression, even after controlling for age, sex, parental mental health, and socioeconomic status, finds a new study, which recommends that clinicians caring for youth with concussion be aware of this association and screen youth for symptoms of depression.

Four new scientific papers add to the growing chorus of researchers pouring cold water on the now common assumption in the media and general population that contact sports causes CTE and that CTE causes those with the disease to commit suicide as scientifically premature.

Adolescent athletes with a history of multiple concussions perform just as well on brief computerized tests of neurocognitive function than those without such history, although those who a history of two or more concussions self-reported more concussion symptoms, says a new study.

Men who played high school football in Minnesota in the decade after World War II are not increased risk of later developing dementia, Parkinson's or ALS compared with non-football playing high school males, according to a study by researchers at the Mayo Clinic. 

The prevailing media narrative is that concussions or repetitive subconcussive blows "cause" chronic traumatic encephalopthy (CTE) and that there is a proven link between the two. It thus may come as a surprise that, despite widespread media coverage and speculation regarding the late-life or post-retirement risks of cognitive impairment in athletes who engaged in sports involving repetitive trauma, there has been very little in the way of peer-reviewed  literature to support that conclusion, leading many respected concussion researchers to view it as "scientifically premature."

Concussed adolescents have difficulty recovering the ability for high level thinking after injury and may require extended recuperation before full recovery of so-called 'executive function' is achieved, a new study finds, which adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that teenage athletes are particularly vulnerable to the lingering effects of concussion.